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WWE Divas Championship
WWE Divas Championship 01.jpg 2014_WWE_Divas_Championship_Design.jpg WWE Divas Championship 02.jpg The WWE Divas Championship was a womens exclusive championship in WWE. With the first WWE Brand Extension, a storyline division in which WWE assigned its employees to different television programs and touring companies, in 2002, the WWE Womens Championship was originally to be defended on both brands. At some point that year, however, it became exclusive to the Raw brand. Thereafter, only Divas on the Raw brand were able to compete for the title, while the Divas on the SmackDown brand were unable to compete for a women's-exclusive championship. However, on a few occasions the regulation was bypassed with Melina, Ashley, Torrie Wilson and Nidia challenging for the title while on the SmackDown! brand, but none were successful. As a result, WWE created the WWE Divas Championship and introduced it on the June 6, 2008 episode of SmackDown when then SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero announced the creation of the title. The championship belt was officially unveiled on the July 4, 2008 episode of SmackDown. After winning respective matches to earn the opportunity to wrestle for the new championship, Michelle McCool defeated Natalya at The Great American Bash to become the inaugural champion. When Maryse won the title from McCool in December 2008, she dislocated her kneecap at a live event later that month. Similar to how Trish Stratus kept the Women's Championship when she was sidelined with a herniated disc in 2005, Maryse was able to keep the Divas Title upon her return in late January 2009. As part of the 2009 WWE Draft, then-Divas Champion Maryse was one of the people drafted to the Raw brand, in the process making the championship exclusive to Raw. It was announced on the August 30, 2010 episode of Raw that the Divas Championship would be unified with the Women's Championship at a match at Night of Champions. And with that, the title (known briefly as the WWE Unified Divas Championship) became accessible to both WWE brands and the champion could appear on both shows, a situation made permanent by the ending of the Brand Extension in 2011. The title was retired at WWE WrestleMania 32, when Lita revealed the new WWE Women's Championship to replace the Divas Belt. Title Lineage * Michelle McCool: July 20, 2008 - WWE The Great American Bash 2008 * Maryse: December 26, 2008 - WWE SmackDown * Mickie James: July 26, 2009 - WWE Night of Champions 2009 * Jillian Hall: October 12, 2009 - WWE Raw * Melina: October 12, 2009 - WWE Raw Vacated — January 4, 2010 * Maryse 2: February 22, 2010 - WWE Raw * Eve Torres: April 12, 2010 - WWE Raw * Alicia Fox: June 20, 2010 - WWE Fatal 4-Way 2010 * Melina 2: August 15, 2010 - WWE SummerSlam 2010 * Michelle McCool 2: September 19, 2010 - WWE Night of Champions 2010 Unified with the WWE Womens Championship * Natalya: November 21, 2010 - WWE Survivor Series 2010 * Eve Torres 2: January 30, 2011 - WWE Royal Rumble 2011 * Brie Bella: April 11, 2011 - WWE Raw * Kelly Kelly: June 20, 2011 - WWE Raw * Beth Phoenix: October 2, 2011 - WWE Hell in a Cell 2011 * Nikki Bella: April 23, 2012 - WWE Raw * Layla: April 29, 2012 - WWE Extreme Rules 2012 * Eve Torres: 3 September 16, 2012 - WWE Night of Champions 2012 * Kaitlyn: January 14, 2013 - Raw 20th Anniversary Special * AJ Lee: June 16, 2013 - WWE Payback 2013 * Paige: April 7, 2014 - WWE Raw * AJ Lee 2: June 30, 2014 - WWE Raw * Paige 2: August 17, 2014 - WWE SummerSlam 2014 * AJ Lee 3: September 21, 2014 - WWE Night of Champions 2014 * Nikki Bella 2: November 23, 2014 - WWE Survivor Series 2014 * Charlotte: November 20 2015 - WWE Night of Champions 2015 DEACTIVATED - April 3 2016 - WWE WrestleMania 32: Replaced with the WWE Women's Championship See Also WWE Championships, WWE Women's Championship